SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



541 



Animals of To-day : Their Life and Conversation. 

 By C. J. Cornish, x. + 319 pp. 8 in. by 5^ in., 

 with 16 illustrations. (London: Seeley & Co., 

 Ltd., 1898.) 6s. 



This is a pleasing series of amusingly-written 

 essays iipon domestic and other animals, which 

 originally appeared in the " Spectator," but have 

 been collected by the author in book form and 

 charmingly illustrated by the reproduction of a 

 mtmber of beautiful photographs by Mr. Charles 

 Eeid. In fact the book has been altogether well 

 produced by the publishers. The casual reader, 

 rather than the science student, will find pleasure 

 in Mr. Cornish's " Animals of To-day " ; though 

 the latter should take it as a course of lighter 

 literature which will not fail to sviggest some 

 problems for scientific investigation. 



River Development. By Professor I. C. Eussell. 

 pp. xix. + 327, 81- in. x 6 in. and 23 illus. (London: 

 J. Murray ; NewYork : G. P. Putnam's Sons,1898. )6s. 



This work is included in Mr. Murray's "Pro- 

 gressive Science Series," and deals more particu- 

 larly with the rivers of North America, although 

 we notice an illustration of " pot-hole " action in 

 the basalt of Antrim. The progressive develop- 

 ment of rivers is exhaustively treated, and will 

 prove of great interest to British geologists 

 desiring a grasp of the subject beyond our own 

 islands. The gigantic scale in which river action 

 goes on in the great continent of America, 

 although the same in kind as that with which we 

 are familiar in Britain, varies so thoroughly in 

 degree, that the perusal of this book is like enter- 

 ing a fresh world. America, too, is likely in the 



III) *ii.i 

 From "Birds," ly 



Physical Geography. By Professor William 

 MoBKis Davis, assisted by W. H. Sntdee. 

 pp. 428, Y^in. X 5 in., illustrated. (Boston and 

 London: Grinn and Co., 1898.) 



Professor Davis, of Harvard University, is to be 

 congratulated on a brilliant exposition of the 

 whole subject of physical geography as distin- 

 guished from physiography. Organic forms are 

 but sparingly touched upon, and then only to 

 illustrate the physical action. The illustrations 

 are many, and exceedingly appropriate. The 

 diagrammatic illustrations of river-growth are of 

 a striking character; many are drawn from 

 American sources, but the wide world is requisi- 

 tioned for instances suitable to the subject to be 

 demonstrated. At the end of the book is a series 

 of nine reference maps, sufficiently detailed for 

 the purposes of illustration. We can say that 

 this is the best work of the kind we have yet 

 seen. — E. A. M. 



AT AUE. 



A. H. Evans, M.A. 



future to have in store more surprises, both 

 physical and palaeontological, and an opportunity 

 here presents itself for home geologists to prepare 

 their minds for further discoveries. The disin- 

 tegration of rocks is dealt with early, and this, of 

 course, is of interest over all the geological world.- 

 We read of the laws governing streams, the in- 

 fluence of hardness in producing scenery, analyses 

 of various American river waters, alluvial deposits, 

 the growth of deltas, glacial or other terraces, 

 and the special characters of the principal American 

 rivers. Finally, by way of summary, there is a 

 " Life History of a Eiver," which, in twenty pages, 

 gives a good and very readable account of the 

 various actions which are brought to bear on the 

 river as it pursues development from its inception 

 to the present day. Many of the illustrations are 

 selected with much taste, and form excellent 

 examples of the influence of rivers in the forma- 

 tion of scenery. — E.A.M. 



